Antiquing in Maine

Can you hear that exclamation in my title? Antiquing in Maine! See where we went and what we found on the hunt!

Antique lovers rejoice! Yes, I’m talking to YOU, dear reader! I know so many of you love antiques just as much as I do. I couldn’t go up to Maine and NOT go antiquing, right? Let’s go antiquing in Maine together!

Many of you know, it’s just as much about he hunt as well as the treasure! We went to lots of places while we were up in Maine. We all over-pack in our house so you need to know that I only had a limited amount of space for my finds – furniture and bigger elements were out of the question, though I did find gorgeous pieces of wood furniture that I drooled over.

Flea Market Finds

We got up bright and early on Sunday (the day after we arrived) to go to the Monsweag Flea Market in Woolwich. The Flea Market was featured online and listed as one of the largest in Maine. Well, we were slightly disappointed on the day we went because there were only 5 dealers set up when we go there at 8am. We decided to get a cup of coffee and come back. Approximately 9 dealers were set up at 9am. It may have been the weather but I thought there would be 50 dealers or more.

Anyway, I did find this sweet ice cream scoop (the one in the top right). The other one in the photograph was my mom’s – she found it antiquing when I was younger.

To me antiques are a bonus if you can still use them. I love how they look but these are great to scoop ice cream and I thought our Maine Ice Cream Scoop will be perfect for cookie baking. I got the scoop for $10.

The ice cream pictured is from Hornstra Farms – we get it delivered to our house along with milk and other dairy products each week.

John also found a gorgeous sterling and turquoise ring at Monsweag.

Next up we stopped at the Flea Market at Cabot Mills.

This was slightly more disappointing than the Monsweag Flea Market… I had such high hopes, but there was so much stuff layered on top of stuff it really was too hard to even see if there was anything in there. Deflated I went to the beach… apologizing to the boys for taking up time “hunting”.

Antique Centers

The next day, John and I went antiquing together. Luke enjoys it but Conor doesn’t love it as much as he used to. So John and I had so much fun! We really enjoyed Cabot Mills Antique Center. There were many great dealers and prices were good, too. Sometimes at Antique Centers prices can be higher, but loved most of the booths and the center was clean and well lit.

Here’s a glimpse at things that caught my eye:

Loved the above booth – the botanical sketches, the hamburger and hot dogs sign, and (if we had the room) – those rusty white chairs would have come home with me!

I love using old shaving cups for toothbrushes or for small posies in a bathroom:

This booth was fabulous!

The dealer had great nautical things and lighting. I thought the navy lights would be great in a bathroom or playroom. I wish I had a place for these brass beauties.

Fun for a bathroom on either side of a mirror or outside! Love this light, too.

I got these fishing floats (the long ones) from this booth. I bought three but gave one to my mom:

I’ve placed them in an ironstone bowl with shells.

At this antique center I also found a great set of US Navy Plates. It was a set of 10 plates and they were 20% off so I got them for $38.

Aren’t they sweet. We’ve been enjoying our english muffins on them, but couldn’t help thinking they’d be so cute to have lobster rolls or crab cakes on.

The seem to be slightly mismatched and I don’t know if this flag is a navy one or something different. Does anyone know?

I think you all know how much I love blue and white! The nautical motif is perfect for our coastal home.

Other Antique Shops

On our journeys we came across so many sweet antique shops.

This one was down the street from Lie-Nielsen tool shop in Warren. John got a sweet tea cup and they had some lovely pieces of furniture.

The Marston House ( a B & B and antique shop) in Wiscasset had some lovely French antiques.

Antiquing Tips

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of our finds and the places we went antiquing. We went to a couple more places but I felt weird pulling my phone out to take photos.

Some helpful tips if you want to start antiquing:

• Always go with an open mind. Antiques and vintage elements can be repurposed.
• Bring a tape measure and if you’re looking for a specific area in your home, know the measurements for that space.
• It’s good to have cash, especially at flea markets
• Sometimes dealers will negotiate but always be polite
• When buying antiques and vintage always look over the entire piece to make sure your happy with it. Some things might be damaged or cracked. I usually feel those flaws add patina, BUT I always steer clear of things that smell like smoke or mold or have fire damage.

If you’d like more antiquing tips you can sign up for my newsletter and get an antiquing guide. If you’d like read more about our Maine trip you can here.

One of my most favorite finds, were from our walks on Popham Beach. These beautiful sand dollars.

Magical finds, I will treasure always, just like the memories of our trip:

You might also like these posts – decorating with antiques and dressing up a mantel with antiques.